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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Studies Of Two-Phase Flow With Soluble Surfactant, Ryan Peter Atwater
Studies Of Two-Phase Flow With Soluble Surfactant, Ryan Peter Atwater
Dissertations
Numerical methods are developed for accurate solution of two-phase flow in the zero Reynolds number limit of Stokes flow, when surfactant is present on a drop interface and in its bulk phase interior. The methods are designed to achieve high accuracy when the bulk Péclet number is large, or equivalently when the bulk phase surfactant has small diffusivity
In the limit of infinite bulk Péclet number the advection-diffusion equation that governs evolution of surfactant concentration in the bulk is singularly perturbed, indicating a separation of spatial scales. A hybrid numerical method based on a leading order asymptotic reduction in this …
Electro-Drop Bouncing In Low-Gravity, Erin Stivers Schmidt
Electro-Drop Bouncing In Low-Gravity, Erin Stivers Schmidt
Dissertations and Theses
We investigate the dynamics of spontaneous jumps of water drops from electrically charged superhydrophobic dielectric substrates during a sudden step reduction in gravity level. In the brief free-fall environment of a drop tower, with a non-homogeneous external electric field arising due to dielectric surface charges (with surface potentials 0.4-1.8 kV), body forces acting on the jumped drops are primarily supplied by polarization stress and Coulombic attraction instead of gravity. This electric body force leads to a drop bouncing behavior similar to well-known phenomena in 1-g0, though occurring for much larger drops (~0.5 mL). We show a simple …
Mechanisms And Identification Of Unsteady Separation Development And Remediation, Matthew Scott Melius
Mechanisms And Identification Of Unsteady Separation Development And Remediation, Matthew Scott Melius
Dissertations and Theses
Unsteady flow separation represents a highly complex and important area of study within fluid mechanics. The extent of separation and specific time scales over which it occurs are not fully understood and has significant consequences in numerous industrial applications such as helicopters, jet engines, hydroelectric turbines and wind turbines. A direct consequence of unsteady separation is the erratic movement of the separation point which causes highly dynamic and unpredictable loads on an airfoil. Current computational models underestimate the aerodynamic loads due to the inaccurate prediction of the emergence and severity of unsteady flow separation especially in response to a sudden …
Assessing The Potential For Improved Scramjet Performance Through Application Of Electromagnetic Flow Control, Martin F. Lindsey
Assessing The Potential For Improved Scramjet Performance Through Application Of Electromagnetic Flow Control, Martin F. Lindsey
Theses and Dissertations
Hypersonic flight using scramjet propulsion bridges the gap between turbojets and rockets. Recent efforts focus on magnetogasdynamic (MGD) flow control to mitigate the problems of high thermomechanical loads and low efficiencies associated with scramjets. This research is the first flight-scale, three-dimensional computational analysis of a realistic scramjet to assess how MGD flow control improves scramjet performance. Developing a quasi-one dimensional design tool culminated in the first open source scramjet geometry. This geometry was tested with the Air Force Research Laboratory's electromagnetic computational code. To increase fidelity, an algorithm was developed to incorporate thermochemistry, resulting in the only open-source model of …